Middle East Crisis

West Bank
Israel moves forward with condemned plan for West Bank

Israel is moving forward with the internationally condemned plan to build over 1200 homes in a new settlement in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem, several media outlets report.

The new settlement, which is planned to be located in the E1 area near Jerusalem, would divide the West Bank in two. It would make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible, writes CNN.

France, Italy, Britain and Germany condemn the project in a joint statement, and urge Israel to withdraw the decision.

Critics believe that the settlement is being built to undermine the two-state solution. When the plan was approved last year, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that "the Palestinian state is being erased - not with slogans, but with action". 

Gaza War
Hind's Family: Investigation Seeks to Justify Murder

Yesterday, Israel decided to open a criminal investigation into the shootings that killed five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family. The girl's grandmother said in an interview that she was surprised by Israel's decision.

"But for us, it is not an admission, but rather an attempt by the Israeli army to justify to the world how they executed Hind," said the grandmother, who is also named Hind Rajab.

She said Israel will claim it was a mistake and that the soldiers will be prosecuted. She stressed that the family does not trust the Israeli justice system.